Gone in a Flash
by Jestress
Summary: "Now, there was that time that you kept seeing that flasher on the Senate Park bike path. I never saw him." Probably rated a little higher than necessary, but I decided to be safe.
1. Don't Look!

**Disclaimer:** Most of the characters in this story are from the tv show Scarecrow and Mrs. King and do not belong to me. The concept of the flasher in Senate Park is also from the show, which is actually kind of a relief for me because it means that I have someone else to blame for putting the idea into my head. I have not received any money for writing this, but it wouldn't surprise me if a few people attempt to bribe me never to write about the flasher again. The fact that I did even once really amazes me, but it did keep me entertained on a long trip.

**Explanation:** I was watching the 3rd season episode "We're Off to See the Wizard", and I started thinking about the part where Lee asks Amanda if she's ever known him to see people who aren't there. Amanda mentions that Lee had seen a flasher on the Senate Park bike path, but she hadn't seen him. I decided I just had to write something to explain that little incident, and this was the result. I picture this as taking place during the second season of the show. If my description of the area doesn't match with the real Senate Park, I apologize, but I've never been there and couldn't find any really good pictures of it. This story is probably rated a little higher than it really deserves, but I decided to err on the side of caution.

**Gone in a Flash**

**By Jestress**

Lee: In all that time, have you ever known me to see things that aren't there, people that aren't there?

Amanda: Well, yeah. Now, there was that time that you kept seeing that flasher on the Senate Park bike path. I never saw him.

Lee: You were gonna go out there with binoculars.

Amanda: Well, it was much safer that way.

- **from "We're Off to See the Wizard"**

Don't look, Ethel!

- **from Ray Stevens' The Streak**

**Chapter 1: Don't Look!**

"Now, she usually comes down the bike path this way," Lee said, gesturing to indicate the path that Senator Westing's daughter, Sandra, would follow. "I've got her route mapped out, and I've divided it into thirds. Since none of us have been in training for cycling races like Sandra Westing, I've decided that each pair will only cover a third of her route so that we will all be fresh enough to keep up with her. Any questions?"

"Who are the other pairs?" Amanda asked.

"Agents Porter and Lang will be following her from the beginning of her ride, then you and I will take over. After we finish our third of the route, Francine and Fred Fielder will cover the final third," Lee said. "We're pretty close to the point where our part of the ride will begin. I thought that we could wait by that bench over there and use that as our starting point. All we have to do now is scope out a good starting point for Fred and Francine."

Lee had been assigned to organize the surveillance team assigned to watch over Sandra Westing after her father had received letters from someone threatening to kidnap Sandra unless he changed his position on a key issue that would shortly be coming to a vote. Mostly, the surveillance was simple, watching her at her home and the college she was attending. However, Sandra was also a dedicated cyclist and enjoyed long rides in Senate Park. Watching a moving target in a crowded place was always complicated. They still had a couple of days before her next practice session, so Lee had brought Amanda to help him inspect the route she would follow and decide where their people would be positioned.

"There's still one thing I don't understand," Amanda said.

"What's that?"

"If there's a chance that someone might kidnap Sandra Westing, why do her parents just let her go out riding in the park by herself?"

"I don't think that Senator Westing is taking the threat very seriously," Lee said. "People like him get threats all the time from kooks who never follow through on them. He and his family generally prefer to keep only minimum security because they consider it too intrusive. The only reason why the Agency is taking it seriously is because we know that the senator is one of the driving forces behind the proposed regulations on overseas shipping of new technology. There's going to be an important vote on the issue soon, and some pretty nasty people want to block it any way they can. By kidnapping Sandra Westing, they could force her father to vote any way they want."

"I just don't see how her cycling practice could be so important that her parents would be willing to risk her safety," Amanda said.

"Well, she does have a pretty important race coming up," Lee said. "She's been competing in cycling races since she was in her early teens, and apparently—oh, gees!"

Suddenly, Lee clapped a hand over Amanda's eyes.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Amanda cried. She tried to turn her head away from Lee, but his hand kept its position over her eyes.

"Don't look!" he said urgently. "There's a flasher over there, and he just flashed himself in this direction."

"What? Where?" Amanda asked, pulling Lee's hand away from her face.

"I said don't look!" Lee snapped, taking hold of Amanda's chin and turning her head toward himself.

"Shouldn't we do something? Shouldn't we get the police?" Amanda asked. She kept trying to turn her head, but Lee held her chin gently but firmly, forcing her to look only at him.

"No, I don't want to attract any attention to the two of us," Lee said. "That guy is getting enough attention by himself."

"Let me see!" Amanda said.

"No! What do you want to look for?" Lee demanded. "Believe me, it isn't a pretty sight. Anyone as ugly as that guy really ought to keep it covered up."

"I just want to see that's going on," Amanda complained. "What's everyone doing?"

"At the moment, gawking and pointing," Lee said. "Oh, wait. Here comes a policeman. Now the guy's in for it."

"Why won't you let me look?" Amanda asked. "It's driving me crazy that I can't see what's happening."

Lee shook his head. Sometimes, Amanda really amazed him.

"Amanda, you shouldn't have to see things like that. Really, you should be grateful to me for saving you from that unpleasant experience."

"So what's the policeman doing?"

"The flasher took off running, and the policeman's chasing him," Lee said. "I think he's calling for backup on his walkie-talkie. Okay, you can look now."

Lee let go of Amanda's chin, and she turned around to see what was happening behind her back. There were several people standing around, talking to each other and gazing off in the direction the flasher and the policeman must have gone.

"I missed the whole thing!" Amanda said, disappointed.

Lee rolled his eyes.

"I suppose you'd rather I just let some pervert flash you?" Lee demanded. He couldn't believe that they were even having this conversation.

"I just think you should have let me see what was happening," Amanda said. "I like to be aware of what's going on around me."

Although Lee could understand the feeling, he couldn't help but argue the point.

"I told you what was going on, so you were aware of it. You didn't need to see it. Now, could we return to the business at hand? Sandra Westing will begin her route at ten in the morning on Friday. We should be in position by nine-thirty, in case Sandra starts early and so that we will have time to scout the area before she reaches us to make sure that no one suspicious is hanging around."

"You mean like a flasher?" Amanda asked innocently.

"Forget the flasher!" Lee said. "What do you think of those starting positions?"

"They seem fine, but won't it look a little funny if we keep everyone in pairs? I mean, I'm all for keeping partners together, but won't it look a little suspicious if two people leave the bike path and get immediately replaced by two more over and over again?"

"Yeah, maybe," Lee said. "Tell you what, we'll stagger them a little bit. Porter can break off pursuit first, and Lang can continue on a minute or two after you and I start. Then, Francine can join in, and you and I will leave off a minute or two before Fielder joins. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good," Amanda said.

"Okay," Lee said. "We'll mark the starting and stopping points on my map and brief everyone at the meeting tomorrow."

"Should we also warn them about the flasher? I wouldn't want to risk having Francine's delicate sensibilities offended."

"Very funny."


	2. Could I Borrow Your Binoculars?

**Chapter 2: Could I Borrow Your Binoculars?**

At the meeting the next day, Lee explained to everyone their starting times and positions.

"The Agency will provide rental bicycles and cycling clothes for you to use for the surveillance," Billy Melrose said. "You will receive them Friday morning, before you leave for the park."

Francine rolled her eyes. She had assured them earlier that she knew how to ride a bike, but that she considered it a ridiculous and undignified mode of transportation. The worst part, she'd said, was the cycling clothes with their clashing, eye-burning colors.

"Well, we'll certainly try to get you the most fashionable and feminine outfit that we can find," Billy had said calmly.

Francine had given him a suspicious look, but she knew better than to press the point.

"Now, has everyone studied the pictures of Sandra Westing?" Billy said. "Remember that you have to be able to recognize her even in her cycling clothes and bike helmet. Do not approach her or speak to her. Remember that her family prefers security to be as unobtrusive as possible. This is likely to be the only time you will have to accompany Sandra Westing on her ride. The vote on the new shipping regulations is scheduled to take place before her next cycling practice. Aside from this ride, the standard surveillance around her house will be sufficient to watch her."

Everyone nodded that they understood.

"There is one other thing you should all be aware of," Billy said. "There have been a number of recent police reports concerning the area around the Senate Park bike path. Several of these incidents involved a flasher who exposes himself to young women. There have also been reports of a purse-snatcher in the area."

"Surely, you don't expect us to help apprehend these wackos as well as watch Sandra Westing?" Fred Fielder said.

"No," Billy said. "But these things could be potential distractions. It's important for you to be aware of them so they won't take you by surprise."

Amanda caught Lee's eye. He tried to ignore her. No matter what she thought, Lee knew that she didn't really need to see the flasher to be wary of him. It should be enough for her to know that he existed. Not seeing him definitely wouldn't hurt her.

"Sir," Amanda said to Billy, "do the police reports have a description of either of these people?"

"Nothing that would be helpful," Billy said. "There are no descriptions all at for the purse-snatcher. Apparently, he strikes while his victims' backs are turned. Descriptions of the flasher vary so widely they aren't worth considering at all. No one can describe his face, and the witnesses can't even agree on his hair color."

"When people see a flasher, his face and hair are usually the last things they look at," Francine said drily.

"Which is a pity because it would make people like him easier to catch," Billy said evenly. "Now, as far as Sandra Westing is concerned . . ."

As the meeting continued, Lee put the matter out of his mind and thought that Amanda did, too. At the end of the day, Lee offered to walk Amanda to her car.

"Thank you," she said, smiling. "By the way, could I borrow your binoculars?"

"Binoculars?" Lee asked. "I hope it's not for a camping trip. Didn't you tell me that Jamie dropped yours from a tree or something on your last camping trip?"

"Oh, it's not for a camping trip," Amanda assured him. "I can give them back to you tomorrow. I just need them for this evening."

Lee couldn't help but notice that Amanda seemed a bit fidgety. It made him suspicious.

"What do you want to use the binoculars for?" he asked.

"Oh, well, I just wanted to use them to . . . to look around a bit," Amanda said with a nervous shrug.

Lee recognized her tone of voice. It was Amanda's There's-Something-I-Don't-Want-To-Tell-You-But-I-D on't-Want-To-Lie-To-You voice. Mostly, she used it for her mother when she was explaining away her Agency-related activities. Whenever she tried to use it on him, it always meant trouble. The trick was to keep asking her questions she didn't want to lie about.

"Where are you planning to do this 'looking around'?" Lee asked patiently.

"At the park," Amanda said quickly.

"At the park? You mean Senate Park?" Suddenly, Lee knew what Amanda was going to do.

"You're not going to go looking for the flasher, are you?" Lee said incredulously.

Amanda was really starting to worry him. Just what was her obsession with this flasher?

"Well, Mr. Melrose said that he might be a distraction tomorrow, so I thought he ought to be taken care of today."

"So you're planning to go confront a naked weirdo in the park? And do what?" demanded Lee. Amanda had some pretty odd notions about how things should be done, but this was beyond anything she'd ever tried to do before. "You're unarmed, and you haven't even had hand-to-hand training."

No, Lee didn't even want to think about Amanda going "hand-to-hand" with this guy. The idea of Amanda grappling with some pervert clad only in a long trench coat brought disturbing images to mind.

"No, I'm not going to do that," Amanda said. "That's what the binoculars are for. That way, I can keep an eye on him from a distance."

"Why?" Lee demanded.

"So that I can see where he goes," Amanda said. "He must have gone somewhere when the policeman was chasing him. I want to see how he gets away."

"And then what?" Lee asked warily.

"Then I can tell the police so they can get him," Amanda said practically. "At the very least, if I get a good look at him, I could give the police a better description of him than the ones they've gotten so far."

Lee was not reassured. "So instead of confronting him in front of witnesses, your plan is to track him to his isolated hideout? Look, it's bad enough, having you expose yourself to this guy exposing himself—"

"Lee," Amanda said suddenly, "what is it that you're really trying to protect me from? Remember that I've been married and I have given birth to two boys. It's not like I don't know what men look like without their clothes on. I doubt this guy has anything I haven't seen before. It would probably be a lot less shocking for me to see him than it would be for young Sandra Westing to see him."

Now, Lee understood. Amanda really could be amazing sometimes. It wasn't that she didn't understand the situation. It was just that she didn't consider herself as vulnerable as Sandra, who was a much younger woman, and in that, Lee knew that she was wrong. Often in life, the people who were most vulnerable to danger were the ones who believed that they weren't.

Privately, Lee had to admit that he often thought of Amanda as a relative innocent. Of course, he knew that she had been married, and the fact that she'd had kids . . . well, nobody had to explain the facts of life to Lee. Still, Amanda hadn't been exposed to many of the cruder elements in life, and for her sake, Lee wanted to keep it that way, whether she appreciated it or not. Besides, there was a dangerous side of this situation that Amanda hadn't considered.

"Amanda, what if the guy catches you following him?" Lee asked. "He's sick, and he could be dangerous. If he gets you alone . . ." He trailed off.

Didn't she realize how she looked to other people? With her slender build and big, innocent-looking eyes, she looked like easy pickings, a prime target for a creep like that.

Hesitantly, Amanda said, "Well, I guess I don't really have to go alone . . ."

Lee blinked. "You want _me_ to come to Senate Park with _you_ to look for a _flasher_?"

"If you don't want to or if you're too busy, that's okay," Amanda said quickly.

Lee was stuck, and he knew it. If he didn't go with her, she'd go by herself, and if anything happened to her, he'd feel guilty. Although, just because they went to the park didn't mean that the flasher would show up. Maybe if they went and nothing happened, Amanda would give up this whole crazy idea.

"I'll come with you," Lee said, "but is it okay if we pick up some food first?"

"Sure," Amanda said, brightening. "I already called Mother and told her that I wouldn't be home for dinner. We could get take-out and have a picnic in the park."

"Great. I'll drive," Lee sighed.

As they headed out to Lee's car, he reflected that, although the life of a spy could never really be considered normal, his life had gotten even stranger ever since this supposedly "normal" housewife had joined the Agency.

"Would you rather get burgers or chicken?" Amanda asked.


	3. Picnic in the Park

**Chapter 3: Picnic in the Park**

The evening was actually pretty pleasant, Lee thought as they ate their burgers on a park bench. There was a light, cool breeze. They were surrounded by people having fun. It was kind of nice, watching the people on the bike path. Amanda was quieter than usual, both because she was eating and because she was keeping an eagle eye out for the mysterious flasher. Of all the odd ways to spend an evening, Lee would be hard-pressed to think of an odder one than having a picnic while waiting for a flasher to show up, but he was even more surprised to find that he was enjoying himself.

So far, nothing at all strange had happened. Lee watched a happy young couple stroll by, hand-in-hand. The guy said something to the girl, and she laughed. Lee turned to look at Amanda.

The breeze ruffled her dark curls. She was leaning forward slightly, gazing intensely about her, waiting for the first sign of trouble. Lee smiled and shook his head. She had focus, he had to give her that. At least he'd persuaded her not to bother with the binoculars. They would have attracted too much attention. To the people passing by, she must look like Miss Wholesome-and-Innocent. Who'd ever suspect that she was there to try to spot a man running around naked?

Hopefully, the guy wouldn't show up. Then, he and Amanda could finish this evening in peace. She couldn't stay out too late because she had to get home to her mother and the boys, but maybe she'd like to get a cup of coffee or something on the way home.

Lee was about to suggest the idea to Amanda when a girl suddenly fell off her bike in front of them. A couple of the other cyclists had to stop short to avoid running over her. Amanda, ever the helpful mother, hurried over to see what the problem was. Lee got up to help also but stopped when he spotted the distraction that had caused the girl to crash.

"Oh, no, not you again!" he groaned.

There he was, in all his trench-coated glory. Lee looked back over at Amanda. She was still busy helping the girl, who seemed a bit hysterical. The two cyclists who had almost hit her had gotten off of their bikes to help. Lee turned back in time to see the weirdo flash a group of women standing by the bike path. Two of them screamed and looked away. The other two just stared, open-mouthed.

"That's it!" thought Lee. They'd come here to take care of the problem, and if Lee dealt with it quickly, Amanda might not even see. Lee rushed toward the guy, but the guy took off running.

He was fast. Lee was in good shape, but even he found it difficult to keep up. They rounded a curve in the path, the flasher just a little ahead of Lee. Lee only lost sight of him for a moment. Then, suddenly, he was gone. Lee looked around wildly. Where did he go?

Lee poked at the bushes beside the path, checking to see if the creep was hiding there, but there was no sign of him.

"Oh, great!" Lee thought. "Lee Stetson, alias Scarecrow, ace federal agent and international intelligence operative, out-smarted by some weirdo in the park. If it gets back to anyone at the Agency, I'll never live it down."

The guy was gone, so Lee decided that he'd better get back to Amanda before anything else happened. When he reached her, she was watching a couple of police officers talking to the group of four women.

"Oh, there you are," Amanda said. "I was about to come looking for you."

"What's happening?" Lee asked, gesturing to the policemen.

"Well, it turns out that the girl fell off her bike because she saw the flasher, and she was startled," Amanda said. "I looked around, but by the time she was able to tell me what she saw, he was already gone."

"Yeah, I know. I was chasing him," Lee said. "Now that he's gone, we can go, too."

"Wait, Lee! There's something else. While those women over there were distracted by the flasher, someone stole one of their purses."

"Sounds like the purse-snatcher Billy told us about," Lee said.

Great. Both of them show up, and Scarecrow couldn't catch either, he thought. He really hoped that Amanda wouldn't tell everyone at the Agency about this.

"Did you get a look at the thief?" Lee asked.

Amanda shook her head. "No, I was looking for the flasher. Then, one of the ladies started screaming that her purse was gone. Nobody actually saw the theft."

"So nobody saw the thief at all?" Lee asked. "That doesn't give the police much to go on."

"Nobody was able to give them a real description of the flasher, either. At least, not his face."

"Right," Lee said, rubbing his forehead. The whole thing was giving him a headache. Even though he'd been chasing the guy, he hadn't gotten a very good look at his face, either. The most he could tell the police was that the guy was blond. "Well, I think I'd better get you to your car so that you can go home."

"I just can't believe I missed seeing him a second time!" Amanda said.

"Be thankful," Lee said firmly. "We should all be as lucky."


	4. You Again!

**Chapter 4: You Again!**

On Friday morning, everyone was in their starting positions by 9:20 am. From where they were, Lee and Amanda couldn't see any of the others. They stood next to a park bench, holding their bikes and wearing the cycling clothes provided by the Agency.

Actually, the clothes weren't too bad, Lee thought. They were all mostly black with brightly-colored accents in different colors for each of them. Porter's outfit had neon green, and Lang's had bright orange. In keeping with his promise to give Francine a feminine outfit, Billy had made sure that she ended up with hot pink. She had given them all a dirty look before grudgingly accepting it. Fred Fielder's outfit had accents in an eye-searing yellow, which no one could look at for very long. Only Lee and Amanda had matching outfits since they were going to stay together as a couple during their part of the ride. Their color was blue.

Lee had to admit that Amanda looked pretty good in her cycling clothes. The outfit accentuated her slim figure, and he could easily believe that she was a regular cyclist. When Francine had seen them in their outfits, she'd remarked that they made a darling couple. Knowing that she was probably still bitter about the hot pink outfit, Lee ignored her.

Since the cycling outfits were nearly skin tight, the agents each carried their guns, handcuffs, and walkie-talkies in specially-designed packs attached to their bikes. Amanda had a walkie-talkie in case she got separated from Lee, but Lee wasn't sure what else she was carrying. Probably stuff from her regular purse, he guessed. Apart from those things, all any of the rest of them had was a water bottle in a holder that clipped onto their bike frames.

While they waited for Sandra Westing to ride by, both Lee and Amanda kept their eyes open for trouble. Because they were early, they had plenty of time. As far as Lee could tell, no one in the area was behaving suspiciously. There were no suspicious loiterers and no sign of the trench-coated creep. Lee was hoping that they'd seen the last of him. Or, at least, that he'd seen the last of him, since Amanda still hadn't seen him at all. Luckily.

Before they'd left the Agency that morning, Lee reminded Amanda that their mission was to watch Sandra Westing, no matter what happened. Therefore, even if the flasher showed up, she was to ignore him completely and keep her attention on Sandra. Amanda rather indignantly told him that she understood the mission completely and wouldn't allow herself to become distracted.

At 10:20 am precisely, Sandra Westing rode past, followed closely by Lang. Lee nodded to Amanda, and they both started riding after Sandra. After a moment, Lang drifted away from the cyclists, letting Lee and Amanda continue.

"So far, so good," thought Lee.

Keeping pace with Sandra wasn't easy, but he and Amanda were managing it. About 20 minutes later, Francine joined them. She wobbled slightly on her bike, and Lee started to wonder if he and Amanda should keep riding with her until Fred joined them. It would only be a few more minutes. Lee dropped back slightly so that he could ride just behind Francine and keep an eye on her progress.

Amanda seemed to be doing fine. She was a couple of bike lengths behind Sandra, and all of her attention seemed focused on her. She was so focused that Lee didn't know whether or not she'd stop at their planned location if he didn't signal to her. As long as she wasn't too tired, she could continue until Fielder joined them.

Suddenly, Sandra Westing stopped short. Startled, Francine also tried to stop quickly and ended up falling. Lee had to swerve to avoid hitting her. Sandra had stopped to stare at something, and Lee turned to see what she was looking at.

"What? Oh, no," Lee said. "No, not again!"

Wearing his traditional trench coat and nothing else but a smile, the flasher was making his usual grand appearance. Or, was he? Lee paused. He could have sworn that the flasher he chased the other day was blond, and this one had brown hair.

A guy in a red and blue cycling outfit ran past Lee. As he passed, he glanced in Lee's direction, and Lee experienced a flash of recognition.

"Hey, you!" Lee shouted.

Recognizing Lee as the man who'd chased him the day before, the guy in the cycling outfit ran faster. Unfortunately, he ran right into Francine, who was just getting up off the ground. As they collided, both of them fell down, and the man dropped the purse he was carrying. Wait, purse?

"Francine, stop him! He's the purse-snatcher!" Lee cried.

The guy tried to get up and run away, but Francine managed to pull him back down to the ground and pin him there. Lee looked back over at the flasher, but the flasher had already disappeared. Well, now that they'd gotten his partner in crime, he shouldn't be too hard to catch. He hoped that Amanda was enjoying the show. She wanted so badly to get a glimpse of this creep, and she should have gotten a pretty good look while Sandra stopped to gawk.

Lee wanted to check what Amanda's reaction was, but when he turned to look, she wasn't where he had seen her stop. In fact, both she and Sandra Westing were gone.

Quickly, Lee contacted Fred Fielder on his walkie-talkie to ask if he'd seen them.

"No, Scarecrow," Fred said. "You guys are running late. Is there a problem?"

"Sort of," Lee groaned. "Come down the path toward us. Francine could use a hand with something. If you see either Sandra or Amanda on the way, contact me immediately."

With a brief word to Francine to let her know that Fred was coming and that he was moving on, Lee got on his bicycle and started off down the path. Maybe Sandra had just started riding again when the flasher disappeared. Maybe they weren't too far ahead. Lee pedaled as hard as he could, hoping to catch up with them.

To his relief, it wasn't long before he saw them. They were the only two cyclists on the path at the moment, since most of the others had stopped to watch the scene with the flasher and the purse-snatcher. Amanda was still doggedly following Sandra, and they both seemed fine. However, Lee's relief was short-lived.

As he struggled to catch up with them, he saw two cyclists who had been waiting beside the path start toward Sandra. The two men were wearing all black with matching helmets. Moving fast, they took up positions on either side of Sandra and started to try to force her off the path. Lee was already going as fast as he could, but he saw Amanda speed up as soon as she realized there was trouble.

"Hey!" Sandra cried. "What are you doing?"

Instead of going off the path, Sandra quickly squeezed her hand brakes and came to a full stop. Amanda, who had been able to stop just fine before, had a harder time now that she was going faster. Lee thought he heard her brakes squeal just before she plowed into the back of one of the men. His bike tipped over, and he went sprawling. Amanda almost fell too, but managed to right herself at the last second.

The other man in black tried to grab hold of Sandra and pull her off her bike. Sandra screamed and tried to shove him away. Lee was still too far away to help.

"Look! A flasher!" Amanda yelled, pointing dramatically away from the path.

Three heads turned automatically to look where Amanda was pointing. Even Lee almost turned to look, but nothing was more important than helping Sandra and Amanda. He couldn't take his eyes off of them for anything.

Their distraction lasted only a second or two, but it gave Lee a chance to close the distance between himself and the people struggling in the middle of the bike path. Taking a hint from Amanda, Lee rammed his bike into the man holding onto Sandra, knocking him to the ground. Lee leapt off of his bike and pinned the man in place, pulling his arms behind him so that he could put cuffs on him.

As Lee snapped the cuffs in place, he looked over to see what the other man was doing. Amanda had taken off her helmet and was whacking him with it. The man took the helmet away from her and tried to grab hold of Amanda. Lee jumped up to help her, but Amanda was already fighting back. She grabbed the water bottle off of her bike and gave it a squeeze, squirting the man in the eyes. Giving up, the man grabbed his own bike and tried to ride away.

Meanwhile, Fred Fielder was approaching on his own bike.

"Take care of that guy!" Lee yelled to Fred, pointing at the man on the ground. "Amanda, you stay here with them. Take care of Sandra. Francine's going to need some help, too. Call Porter and Lang. I'll go after this guy."

As Lee got back on his bike, he heard Amanda asking Sandra if she was alright.

Leaving them behind, Lee rode off after the man who had just fled. The man had taken off down the bike path, hoping to lose Lee among the other riders. Then, suddenly, he veered off the path, taking a route through the trees.

Lee had been pushing himself hard and was starting to tire. For a moment, Lee thought that the guy might actually lose him when suddenly something large fell out of a tree, landing right on top of the rider in black. The rider screamed as he was knocked off his bike. Lee skidded to a halt, staring unbelievingly at the two men lying on the ground next to the bike. The one that had just fallen out of the tree was wearing a trench coat . . . and nothing else.

"You again!" Lee said, gleefully this time.

He pulled his gun out of his pack and pointed it at the two men. It was hard to say whether the attempted kidnapper was more shocked at the sight of Lee's gun or the nearly naked man who had fallen out of the tree.

"You two just keep sitting there," Lee said as he reached for his walkie-talkie to call for back-up. "I know some people who are going to want to see you."

And one person I hope won't see you at all, he added silently.


	5. All's Well

**Chapter 5: All's Well**

"Good job, everyone," Billy said when they were back at the Agency. Amanda, Lee, and Francine were in Billy's office, discussing what had happened at the park. "The Westing family is grateful to us for saving Sandra. Distracting her kidnappers by yelling 'flasher' was very creative, Amanda."

"Thank you, sir," Amanda said. "I just figured that something like that would be enough to get anyone's attention, although I never actually saw him myself."

"Ironically, that's just what the flasher and his accomplice planned from the beginning," said Lee. "The flasher meant to get everyone's attention."

"So, the flasher and the purse-snatcher were actually working together?" Amanda asked.

"That's right," Lee said. "The flasher's job was to distract people, especially women, while his accomplice stole their purses. While everyone was staring at the flasher, the thief could more or less move around without anyone paying attention to him. Then, the thief would get on his bike and ride off down the path."

"So how did the flasher manage to disappear when people were chasing him?" Amanda wanted to know.

"After the purse-snatcher struck," Lee said, "the flasher would run off and hide somewhere, usually by climbing a tree. The logic was that when people are looking for someone, they tend to look behind and under things. They don't often think to look up." He smiled ruefully, thinking how he himself was fooled by that trick.

"Climbing a tree can't be easy for a guy wearing only a trench coat," commented Francine.

Billy glared at her, warning her not to carry that thought too far.

"The flasher always kept cycling shorts and a shirt in the pockets of the trench coat," Lee continued. "As soon as he was sure that his pursuers were gone and he had a few moments alone, he'd put them on and meet his friend at the place where they'd hidden his bicycle. Then, the two of them would just ride out of the park together."

"Sounds like a clever trick," Amanda observed.

"Not only that," Francine said, "but the two of them would occasionally switch roles so that any descriptions the witnesses gave of the flasher would contradict each other. That's why some people described the flasher as blond and some said that he had brown hair."

"So, really, there were two flashers, not one," Amanda said thoughtfully.

"Yeah," said Francine. "Only one of them was the flasher at a time, but there were two of them."

"And I didn't actually see either of them," Amanda said, shaking her head.

Lee rolled his eyes. Billy looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"You're disappointed?" Francine remarked. Lee could tell that she was gearing up to make a few jokes about at Amanda's expense.

"At least she's not the one who fell off of her bike at the sight of a man wearing only a trench coat," Lee commented. "I can't believe that you were so shocked. I doubt that he had anything you haven't seen before."

"I was not shocked!" Francine said hotly.

"People!" Billy said. "The important point is that everything worked out alright. Sandra Westing is safe, and we helped apprehend a couple of criminals."

"Well, it's not that I'm sorry they were caught, but I had three chances to help the police catch them, and I missed them all," Amanda explained.

"_Three_ chances?" Francine asked. "When else did you—?"

"Just be thankful that all's well that ends well. We'd better be going," Lee said firmly, hurrying Amanda out of Billy's office before she could tell them about their stakeout Thursday evening.

"I guess that one good thing about my not seeing the flasher was that I was able to stay with Sandra Westing," Amanda said as Lee walked her out to her car.

"True," Lee said. "You did a good job of focusing on her."

"I remembered what you said about paying strict attention to her. When she stopped for a moment, I almost looked to see what she was looking at, but it's a good thing I didn't because she started riding again almost immediately. I was a little surprised that you were so easily distracted," Amanda said with a sideways glance at him.

"Hey!" Lee said. "Francine was down on the ground. I couldn't just leave her until I was sure that she was alright."

He hated to admit that he hadn't seen Sandra and Amanda start moving right away. Still, he reminded himself, he had successfully caught up to them, and everything had turned out alright. All's well that ends well.

"True," Amanda said. "By the way, could I borrow your binoculars?"

Lee stopped in his tracks. "Why? Amanda, the flashers, _both_ of them, are in jail."

"Oh, no, it's nothing like that," Amanda said. "It's just that Mother and I are going to a concert, and since I lost my opera glasses out of my pack, I was looking for something else I could use."

With a sigh of relief, Lee relaxed and said, "Sure. No problem. Just make sure that the boys don't get hold of them."

"Of course not," Amanda assured him.

Then, Lee said, "Wait a minute. You brought your opera glasses to the park in the pack on your bike? Why?"

Amanda gave him a sheepish grin and said, "Just in case."

Then, she headed off, leaving Scarecrow standing there, open-mouthed.

**The End**


End file.
